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CONCERN IN BAKU OVER RUSSIA-GEORGIA-ARMENIA MILITARY TRANSIT
EurasiaNet.org
March 16 2015
March 15, 2015 - 7:01pm, by Joshua Kucera
Recent reports that Russian military vehicles were appearing in Georgia
have raised complaints in neighboring Azerbaijan that Tbilisi is
"betraying" Baku by allowing the Russian military to ship military
supplies into Armenia via its territory or airspace.
The story of the Russian vehicles in Georgia is almost certainly a
tempest in a teapot - after footage surfaced of Russian-made ZIL 131
military trucks on Georgian streets, various theories quickly emerged.
Georgia's opposition claimed the trucks were evidence that the current
government was in cahoots with Moscow, while some suggested they may
be on the way to Armenia, where Russia both has its own large military
base and provides substantial military aid to the armed forces there.
But it didn't take long for another, more banal explanation to come
out: the vehicles were decommissioned in Russia and are being sold
on the commercial market.
There's no indication that the Russian trucks were in fact destined
for Armenia, but the question of how Russia supplies its base in
Armenia, as well as delivers military aid there, has long been a
secretive and contentious one. Armenia is separated from Russia by
Azerbaijan and Turkey, which are hostile to Armenia, and Georgia,
which is hostile to Russia. Georgia nevertheless did allow overflights
of Russian military shipments to Armenia until 2011, when it publicly
annulled the agreement with Russia allowing for that transit. The
status of that transit is now unclear, though there have been various
unconfirmed reports that it was reinstated even while former president
Mikheil Saakashvili was in power.
Azerbaijani analyst Mubariz Ahmedoglu, in a Baku press conference
March 5, accused Georgia of "betraying" Azerbaijan by allowing the
transit. "Chronic problems in the Azerbaijan-Georgia relationship have
shown themselves cumulatively. Georgia never expresses real support for
Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. The only support is rhetorical,"
Ahmedoglu said. He argued further that Georgia's government is going
along with a Russian plan to annex Armenia via the Georgian occupied
territories.
"Georgian officials can resort to sophistry to claim that the transit
of military hardware via Georgia to Armenia does not pose a threat for
Azerbaijan and Georgia. However, the incumbent Georgian leadership
created the biggest threat for itself. This is both a military and
geopolitical threat," Ahmedoglu said.
It's not clear to what extent Ahmedoglu's views represent those in the
government, but the fact that in Azerbaijan's increasingly repressive
environment he held a press conference covered by pro-government
media suggests it has official sanction.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/72531
EurasiaNet.org
March 16 2015
March 15, 2015 - 7:01pm, by Joshua Kucera
Recent reports that Russian military vehicles were appearing in Georgia
have raised complaints in neighboring Azerbaijan that Tbilisi is
"betraying" Baku by allowing the Russian military to ship military
supplies into Armenia via its territory or airspace.
The story of the Russian vehicles in Georgia is almost certainly a
tempest in a teapot - after footage surfaced of Russian-made ZIL 131
military trucks on Georgian streets, various theories quickly emerged.
Georgia's opposition claimed the trucks were evidence that the current
government was in cahoots with Moscow, while some suggested they may
be on the way to Armenia, where Russia both has its own large military
base and provides substantial military aid to the armed forces there.
But it didn't take long for another, more banal explanation to come
out: the vehicles were decommissioned in Russia and are being sold
on the commercial market.
There's no indication that the Russian trucks were in fact destined
for Armenia, but the question of how Russia supplies its base in
Armenia, as well as delivers military aid there, has long been a
secretive and contentious one. Armenia is separated from Russia by
Azerbaijan and Turkey, which are hostile to Armenia, and Georgia,
which is hostile to Russia. Georgia nevertheless did allow overflights
of Russian military shipments to Armenia until 2011, when it publicly
annulled the agreement with Russia allowing for that transit. The
status of that transit is now unclear, though there have been various
unconfirmed reports that it was reinstated even while former president
Mikheil Saakashvili was in power.
Azerbaijani analyst Mubariz Ahmedoglu, in a Baku press conference
March 5, accused Georgia of "betraying" Azerbaijan by allowing the
transit. "Chronic problems in the Azerbaijan-Georgia relationship have
shown themselves cumulatively. Georgia never expresses real support for
Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. The only support is rhetorical,"
Ahmedoglu said. He argued further that Georgia's government is going
along with a Russian plan to annex Armenia via the Georgian occupied
territories.
"Georgian officials can resort to sophistry to claim that the transit
of military hardware via Georgia to Armenia does not pose a threat for
Azerbaijan and Georgia. However, the incumbent Georgian leadership
created the biggest threat for itself. This is both a military and
geopolitical threat," Ahmedoglu said.
It's not clear to what extent Ahmedoglu's views represent those in the
government, but the fact that in Azerbaijan's increasingly repressive
environment he held a press conference covered by pro-government
media suggests it has official sanction.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/72531